Aircraft such as the F-4 and F-15 manufactured by McDonnell Douglas Corporation, the assignee of the present invention, are adapted to carry stores. Other aircraft, such as the F-16 and F-111 manufactured by Lockheed Aeronautical Systems Company and General Dynamics, respectively, are likewise adapted to carry stores. As an example, these stores include missiles such as the Walleye missile, the Standoff Land Attack missile (SLAM) and the Maverick missile. Typically, disconnectable pylons are used to mount missiles on the wing of a host aircraft so that the aircraft is able to carry the missiles to the vicinity of the target destination prior to their deployment.
Prior to, during and even after deployment of a store, the aircraft and its associated store communicate. For example, the aircraft and store bidirectionally transmit signals therebetween to appropriately configure and launch the store. In general, the pre-launch configuration includes downloading the target's coordinates and initializing the store's various sensors. In addition, certain stores, such as SLAM missiles, transmit video images of the target to the aircraft via radio frequency (RF) signals. The aircraft then monitors the flight path of a store after its deployment and, in some instances, controls its flight path to provide greater targeting accuracy.
A host aircraft typically includes an aircraft controls and displays module to provide bidirectional signal transmission between the aircraft and its associated store. The aircraft controls and displays module provides an interface by which the crew of the aircraft monitors and controls the aircraft's flight pattern. The aircraft controls and displays module also provides armament control, such as to control the deployment of stores. Typically, the aircraft controls and displays module includes both discrete controls (e.g., toggle switches) as well as a joystick, or control stick, for positioning and selecting a cursor displayed on a screen in the aircraft's cockpit.
A second type of store, namely a data link pod, further facilitates the bidirectional communication between the host aircraft and at least some associated missiles. The data link pod (e.g., an AN/AWW-13 or similar data link pod) provides a video interface between an associated missile and the aircraft controls and displays module. For example, the host aircraft typically employs a data link pod in conjunction with a SLAM missile to provide an RF data link between the SLAM missile and the host aircraft.
Both the aircraft and the associated store typically process signals according to a predetermined format. As used herein, format refers not only to the actual configuration of the data structure, but also to the content and order of transmission of the signals. The predetermined formats of the aircraft and the store are oftentimes different. In order to ensure proper signal reception by the host aircraft and the associated store, the signals must thus be provided to the aircraft or store in the predetermined format that the aircraft or store is adapted to process.
In addition, each different type of aircraft and each different type of store generally processes signals according to a different predetermined format. Typically, each store is adapted to be mounted on and deployed by only predetermined types of aircraft to ensure that signals are transmitted between the aircraft and the associated store according to the proper predetermined format. Thus, a missile and its associated data link pod, if any, are configured to process signals according to the predetermined format of the predetermined types of aircraft from which it is adapted to be deployed in order to ensure proper transmission of signals therebetween. By limiting each type of store to deployment from only certain predetermined types of aircraft, however, the flexibility with which stores can be deployed from aircraft is significantly restricted.
Likewise, aircraft are typically designed to interface with and deploy only one or more predetermined types of stores to ensure that signals are properly transmitted therebetween. Thus, the flexibility with which aircraft can deploy stores is further restricted by limiting each aircraft in the types of stores it is able to deploy.
Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,548,510, the entire disclosure which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a universal electrical interface between an aircraft and an associated store. The interface of U.S. Pat. No. 5,548,510 increases the flexibility with which stores can be deployed from aircraft such that a plurality of types of stores can be launched from a plurality of types of aircraft. In addition, the interface of this patent increases the flexibility with which a store can be deployed from a plurality of types of aircraft without increasing the demand on the aircraft's central control processor, adding additional electronics to the aircraft controls and displays module or modifying the command sequence and associated displays employed by crew to deploy an associated store. Although U.S. Pat. No. 5,548,510 provides improvements in such interfaces, further improvements are still desired.
For example, an aircraft's pilot often provides commands to the associated store. In conventional aircraft, these commands are effected by actuating toggle switches mounted in an aircraft flight crew station or by actuating switches positioned on the control stick. In general, the switches that are used to conventionally effect the commands are not identified to the crew. Rather, the crew must memorize the particular functions of each switch. Further, the pilot must often remove his or her hand from the control stick and look away from the cockpit multifunction display in order to actuate the switches.
For these reasons, an improved user friendly interface is desired which allows the pilot to keep his or her hand on the aircraft's control stick and eyes on the multifunction display while selecting commands, reduces the number of operations required by the pilot, reduces the number of functions that the pilot must memorize and allows faster response time.